Host Waynesfield-Goshen pulled away from scrappy Ada with a big second half to win their non-league football season opener 42-12 Friday night at Tiger Field.
The deeper Tigers separated from a 14-6 halftime lead with 28 unanswered second half points to win, but it was not as lopsided as the final score indicates.
"I don't think the final scoreboard reflects how the game was played," said W-G head coach Shane Wireman. "It was a very hard-fought game. Ada is very physical up front, and has a couple of bruisers at running back."
The Ada volleyball team split a three-team non-league tri-match Saturday morning to start off its season.
The Bulldogs defeated Waynesfield-Goshen in three sets, then lost to Cory-Rawson in two close games. C-R also beat W-G, so all three varsity teams went 1-1.
Ada beat the Tiger girls 25-15, 23-25, 25-18 in the first match of the day.
"It was a hard-fought match," said Ada head coach Kyleigh Tabor. "We lost a close second game, but I was proud of how the girls came back in the third set after losing such a close game."
Ada never trailed in the decisive third set and won convincingly.
The Ada golf team defeated county foe Ridgemont convincingly in a dual match Wednesday evening at the Bluffton Golf Course.
The Bulldogs earned their first win of 2021 with the decisive 212-255 victory.
Ada senior Andrew Rush and Hayden Oates of Ridgemont shared match medalist honors with a score of 51.
Ada senior Dexter Woods and junior Geddes Klingler were just one stroke off their pace, as each posted scores of 52. Bulldog senior Kamron Wilkerson shot a 57 to round out the top four scorers.
Ada sophomore Jack Baumgartner posted a 59, and freshman Wyatt Ferguson added a round of 79.
A brand new synthetic playing surface and a new head coach hope to infuse new excitement into the Ada football program after the 2020 season came to an unprecedented and premature end.
Experienced gridiron mentor Toby Smith was hired last December amd tasked to rebuild the Bulldog progam after a three-year 4-19 slide. In the previous 12 seasons, Ada had made the post-season 11 times.
"We only have five seniors on our roster to rely on," said Smith. "We are trying to breed a culture of success.
"There is a history of success at Ada, and we want to bring that back," he said upon his hiring.
The Ada golf team split a three-team Northwest Conference match Thursday evening at the Hidden Creek Golf Course.
The Bulldogs defeated Spencerville 216-257 to earn their first league win of 2021. Bluffton beat Ada 159-216, and also whipped the Bearcats 159-257.
The Bulldog linksters ran their record to 2-9 overall and 1-6 in NWC play with the split. Bluffton improved to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in league action with the wins.
Pirate Kenny Lovett won match medalist honors with a nine-hole score of 36.
